Tag Archives: Recipe Tester Extraordinare

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Before I get to this week’s plan, here are a few of the great eats I’ve been testing for The Urban Vegan :

Delicious cinnamon-date scones

Kheer (Indian Rice Pudding)

And to round things out, some Chana Dal served on homemade paratas. I obviously can’t give you the tester recipe for the Chana Dal, but you can see the recipe for the paratas here in French, or wait until tomorrow for the English version.

Did you see who was sneaking into my Kheer photo shoot?

I was taking the shot and wondered what had fallen onto the table…baby lady birds! Or lady bugs, or cute bugs that announce spring! Happy.

Monday : Easy-Peasy Pasta – watch for this very kid-friendly recipe on Thursday.

Wednesday : French Fry Soup. This is going to be an experiment, and I promise to share the results if it turns out!

Thursday : Spaghetti and bean balls. I usually use the wonderful recipe for bean balls in VCON, but I’m out of gluten flour. It’s all gone, kids, and apparently I cannot get any unless I order it via the net…and I’m not going to do that. Have any of you made the recipe without the gluten to hold it together? Do you have other bean ball recipes you like that don’t call for gluten flour? Do tell!

Friday : Pizza Night! Wee! If I’m feeling frisky I may even make a dessert pizza Friday. Maybe. Can’t be getting to crazy now, can we?

Do you blog your weekly meal plans? Let me know, I’d love to link to your plan to share the planning mojo with everyone. And don’t forget, if you’re looking for meal plan inspiration you can visit the MPM archives.

Despite the amazing weather and sunshine, I’m feeling the January “blahs”. I’m not sure if you experience these, but for me it happens shortly after the holiday decorations come down and the afterglow of December’s festivities is as dark as these winter mornings and evenings. I am, if you will, like a flower…I need long days of sunshine and gentle warm breezes to nourish me.

Ha!

What do you do when you get the winter blahs? This week The Fish Family will be having two “theme-nights” to break up the monotony of January. Yes, we are throwing caution to the wind and serving up some festivesauce with an Irish Night and an Indian Night. You’re jealous, aren’t you?

As many of you know, it really is the little things that matter, and though it might seem silly to tell Guppy, “Tonight, we’re travelling to India…” and spend our dinner talking about the animals, stories and people we could relate to the country of India, for the curious 5 year-old she is, it’s rather exciting. I recycled a few old lesson plans I’d used for children and found some “Animals of India” colouring pages for her to work on while I prepare dinner tonight, and we could even extend the experience by watching “The Jungle Book” later in the week…it only takes a few minutes of planning to create an event out of what would otherwise be a boring Monday night dinner.

Theme-Night meals for teens or adults are not necessarily more labour-intensive, on the contrary! Watching a film connected with your meal, or just the simple addition of pre-dinner cocktails, the apéro, if you will, can add sass and spark to a regular meal – even if your cocktails are non-alcoholic!

Smaller children will love making a game of something so ordinary, and it can help open up conversations with older kids, too.

Here’s our week :

Monday : Indian Night! Kale with raisins & Chana Dal* served with Paratas, and Kheer* for dessert.

Tuesday : Spirals with “Feta” & Spinach. – this one is from The Complete Guide to Vegan Food Substitutions by Celine Steen & Joni Marie Newman. Many of you I’m sure all the recipes I teased you with while I was testing for this one (even though the silly publishers forgot to credit my name, grr!). Now you can go get your own copy – you’ll be so happy you did!

Wednesday : Irish Night! Colcannon* with Irish Soda Bread and Seedcake* for dessert and Irish Coffee for the grown-ups!

Thursday : left-overs

Friday : Pizza Night! This is our favourite night of the week, and we never grow tired of it.

The starred (*) dishes mentioned above are test recipes for The Urban Vegan’s book-in-progress, and here are a few pictures of what I was testing last week :

hot crossed buns

sweet mint tea

Shirley Temple (for Guppy!)

I’m actually testing much more than you’re seeing here, but with the absolute lack of daylight (Winter Blahs!) there has been a significant decline in food photos around here…long live March 21st!

Do you blog your weekly meal plans? Let me know, I’d love to link to your plan to share the planning mojo with everyone. And don’t forget, if you’re looking for meal plan inspiration you can visit the MPM archives.

Now that the holidays have come and gone, this week’s meals are a little more frugal and a little less festive.

And that’s okay.

As we explain to Guppy, there is a time for everything : a time for eating Christmas cookies and chocolates, and a time for soup and lighter fare. Coming down from the holiday excitement is always a little melancholy for me, but Friday’s pizza nights means there is always a party to look forward to, right?

Here’s a peek at two test recipes we enjoyed last week from The Urban Vegan :

Pumpkin-Maple Muffins – enough said.

Spicy Lentils – I’m such a fan of lentils served just about any way, but this picante recipe was a real winner. I served it up with some balsamic roasted butternut squash, because I can.

And so can you! This isn’t a test recipe, but it is one of our favourite way to eat butternut squash – try it!

Balsamic-Roasted Butternut Squash

+/- 5 cups cubed butternut squash

1 tbsp olive oil

2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

1 tsp dried thyme

salt and pepper to taste

Heat your oven to 200°c/400°f and toss the cubed squash with the olive oil and vinegar. Using your fingers, crumble the dried thyme over the squash, sprinkle with salt and pepper, then toss to coat.

Spread the cubed squash in a shallow baking dish or on a baking sheet in one layer and bake for about 45 minutes or until melty-tender. Sprinkle with some salt if necessary before serving.

Do you have a favourite frugal (ie : cheap) recipe you love to serve? Please feel free to share with the kids at home! And don’t forget, if you’re looking for meal plan inspiration you can visit the MPM archives.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday weekend, because even if you don’t celebrate Christmas, it was still the weekend, right? We had a lovely time, and we even got snow on Christmas Eve morning! Guppy woke to a few centimetres of snow, just like in holiday stories, and she was elated. The snow of course didn’t last, but it couldn’t have come on a better day.

The recipe testing continues for The Urban Vegan’s upcoming cookbook, and I must say that everything I’ve tested so far has received 4 stars.

I have more holiday spirit than you can shake a candy cane at, but one of the tiny frustrations about the season is not always being in control of what we’re eating. The Fish Family will be spending a few days with family at the end of the week, and that means not planning the meals, at least not in their entirety. I will be contributing to the meals, though, and hopefully will be able to get some pictures if it’s not to dark!

In other news, I’m excited to tell you I’ll be doing some recipe testing for Urban Vegan who has a new cookbook in the works. The next few days will feature some of her recipes, and they sound delicious.

Wednesday : I’m not sure if we’ll be here or not yet, so today will probably be about eating left-overs to empty the fridge!

My muffins lean to the left, just like me!

Because I’m posting this after breakfast, I can share a photo of these delicious muffins from Urban Vegan forthcoming book. The sun doesn’t rise until after 8:30am now, so the light isn’t wonderful, but the muffins were. I knew I needed to snap a picture of one before they disappeared! Beautiful crumb, bright, lemony taste, perfect for a leisurely holiday breakfast.

Not sure what to make for dinner? Take a peek at the sample menus on the Meal Plan Mondays page for some inspiration.

I guess it’s time for confession, which is a rather Catholic thing to do, is it not? I’m not Catholic, but as you know, I decided to give up baking during the Lenten Holiday to honor the memory of my grandmother (a practicing Catholic). I was a very good girl during those long weeks of Lent, and I’m feeling rather proud of myself, too (which somehow negates the good behaviour, right?). Random urges for baking powder biscuits to go with homemade soup? Denied! Cookie cravings from Guppy and Monsieur Fish? Ignored. Thankfully I live in the country of the baguette, so at least fresh, cheap and tasty bread made up for the yeast-ban chez nous.

Besides being a positive way to honor her memory, this little break from baking was a wonderful reminder for me to ignore my “inner three-year-old”. Though I’ve only been baking (or cooking, or preparing food requiring more complex food preparation than slicing bread and boiling water) for a hair under two years, I’ve really taken to it. I relish in the DIY aspect of home food preparation, feeling like an artist, a craftsman and a renegade against the machine of forced consumerism. And it’s tasty. And so much healthier.

Check out that cinnamon-sugar layer!

However, even those of you who like me have but a rudimentary understanding of physics know : energy doesn’t just disappear. Equal and opposite reactions and all that – sound familiar? When I broke my foot/ankle last November, something rather strange began to happen. The time and energy that I so carefully poured into my training had to go somewhere, and it seemed to find its way into the oven. I wasn’t actively aware of this happening initially : for me it was about recipe testing, holiday baking for gift-giving and get-togethers, etc. but as the holidays came to a close I still found myself wanting to bake. Needing to bake.

You can see the cinnamon-sugar layering magic here, too

In retrospect, I believe that baking helped me reclaim a feeling of control I felt I’d lost. I couldn’t control my leg being in a cast or incompetent physical therapists, but I could control proportions of flour to sugar to yeast. Healing times eluded me, but baking times became as natural as my running rhythm.

I’m thankful that I didn’t chose a more self-destructive outlet for that pent-up energy (says the former smoker), but I felt like it was time to gently step away from the oven mitts and remember what brought me to wanting to bake in the first place : a desire to create healthful deliciousness for my family and friends.

Oh delicious Molasses Bar, just unwrapped and ready to be eaten!

Lent technically ended on Easter Sunday, but I admit to ending my Lenten baking fast nearly 5 days prior. That being said, I don’t feel guilty or ashamed about breaking out the cupcake tins. Guppy was having a party at school, and I was having Spring parties for two of my children’s English classes. The idea of purchasing pre-made baked goods for these events briefly flashed before my mind – and then I just laughed out loud as I often do when I think about my Grandmother, known as Rita Pita. I found myself asking the question : WWRD*?

Whole Wheat “Quickish” Bread with a slab of Chocolate-Agave Frosting.

Just typing the words makes me smile, because I knew Rita Pita, and I know how ridiculous she would think my not baking would be. Don’t get me wrong, she’s looking at me from somewhere and is touched that I honored Lent for her (and secretly feeling puffed-up for all this blog attention), but she was the last person on earth who would condone calorie restriction, or not eating sweets, in her name. She would have scolded me for not baking, probably asked to “just lick the spoon” (a no-no as she was a long-time diabetic and fought against weight problems her entire life) and a cupcake making we would have gone.

So I made. I left the camera in the other room, and decided to only make enough for the parties, meaning for Guppy’s school and for my students. If you’re still deciding if I “sinned”, do weigh in the fact that I made them, and taught/hosted the parties, with a 38.5c fever, so it’s like it was a big punishment anyway (ha!).

As the drugs began taking effect, I decided that it was the long weekend, and I wanted to make something fun and tasty for us so on Good Friday I made the Cinnamon-Sugar Loaf. And it was Good. I also made some Molasses bars that I wrapped up and froze to use as quick breakfasts for me. The last of the holy trinity of baking was the “Quickish” Whole Wheat bread that was so easy to throw together and bake it felt sinful. Just be be sure I made up a batch of Chocolate Agave Frosting, using hazelnut flavouring and we slathered this “faux-Nutella” all over that wholesome Whole Wheat loaf. So good to be bad.

In case you haven’t guessed, the Cinnamon-Sugar Loaf, Molasses Bars, Whole Wheat “Quickish” Bread and the Chocolate Agave Frosting are indeed all recipes which you’ll find in the up-coming 500 Vegan Recipes, to be released in less than a year! Testing is almost done, and now I shall find myself also asking WWSE? What will Shellyfish eat?

Oh the extetentialist ponderings of the universe…

(What would Rita do for those of you lucky enough to have dodged this little phrase which to me was the epitome of the hypocrite’s guide to religious marketing “What would Jesus do?”)*

I hope you had a lovely weekend (long weekend for some of us) whether you were celebrating with friends and family or simply celebrating friends and family (as we were). I have some Lenten Confessions (yes, that means baking!) coming for you in my next post, but for now, I’d like to share the vegan goodness this weekend had to offer!

As a child, our traditional Easter weekend meant a visit from the Spring Fertility Rabbit (aka Easter Bunny), and a gigantic family dinner comprised of ham, potatoes and cabbage salad (and other random things that no one could eat for the glut of chocolate but a few hours before…).

We were almost always with my grandparents, divorced since before my birth, but somehow always together for the holidays – a forced reconciliation benefiting everyone involved. In fact, I was at least 5 years old before I really understood that my grandparents had witnessed a mammoth shift in their marital status, that they had been married, but no longer were. I had no idea how much bending-over-backwards was happening, the adults accommodating their very real and still fresh wounds. Somehow their living apart, but being together for the key moments of the year, when we made the journey North to spend the holidays tas a family, just seemed normal. Only now as an adult can I really appreciate just how much my grandparents loved my parents and my sibs and I. It was by no means a masquerade, but they put aside their differences and were able to enjoy the moments which became some of the most important memories of my lifetime. Way to go, Rita and Joe!

My Papa Joe was in charge of the cabbage salad. He would sit at the dining room table and carve the thinnest of slices before adding vinegar, oil, salt and pepper. I have some of the most beautiful memories of him at that table, the sunshine coming in from behind him, giving his tall frame an even more impressive aura. He always wore a suit and a bow tie, without exception, and he smelled like tobacco and peppermint.

I loved the family gathering, the sugar high, the gifts… but as for the dinner…I liked the cabbage salad, and that was about it.

Enough reminiscing, what did you eat for Easter dinner? What do you mean you didn’t have veggie burgers? Well, you should have, because they were darn tasty! These just happen to be the Black Bean Grillers from the much-anticipated 500 Vegan Recipes Cookbook by Joni & Celine. I know, I’m driving you crazy, but the testing is almost done, and they are just so good and easy to throw together at the last minute… I feel morally obliged to tell you about their awesomeness.

And what could possibly go better with burgers? More comfort food of course!

Here we have some steamed broccoli (which I think is Guppy’s very favourite non-fruit food) and rosemary mashed potatoes smothered in “Soppy Gravy”, a delicious mushroom-gravy with a kick, also soon to be featured in 500 Vegan Recipes. Considering that mashed potatoes have been one of my favourite foods since my introduction to solids, I fancy myself a bit of a gravy-expert. Not gravy making expert, mind you, but official gravy tester would be lovely on my CV next to my diplomas and work experience. I have made many a mushroom gravy in my day, but this one had a little somethin’ somethin’ that made me say wow!*

My modest little point-and-shoot doesn’t do the test recipes of 500 Vegan Recipes justice, so do scoot over to visit the 500 Vegan Recipes Flickr groupand see what real photographers can do. For now, I’ll stick to eating taters and gravy.

Thanks for all the sweetness and advice on my respiratory woes. I’m still on a cortisone-high, but should feeling better soon. I will try to get past my loath for doctor visits and get to the bottom of this, and need to track down one of those nettie-nettle potty deals. It’s a little crazy how many women seem to have this random surge of sinus infections entering into their 30s…humm…Internet research calling my name…

My mother just keeps reveling in the birthday love – thanks to you! A hearty muchas gracias go out to the lovely and talented Robin of Robin in Reality and to everyone’s favourite Swell Vegan, A-K!

Robin sent my mother a gorgeous handmade scarf, huckleberry tea from her native Montana and a beautiful card. Cookzine writer A-K sent her the most delectible homemade raw goodies! And have you seen how cute she looks showing off her new Swell cookzine? She’s being added to the Vegan-Cutie Hall Of Fame fo sho! She’s selling these little babies for only 3USD! 5USD for we freaky European kids. I can’t wait to make every one of those recipes – and eat it all – that Spicy Tahini Stew sounds really good right now…

And now for the Yummies! This Maple Flax Loaf was a pre-Lenten test recipe for 500 Vegan Recipes. So simple and so delicious. Miam! It was as delicious as it was beautiful!

I know the blogger police should arrest me for such a terrible flashy picture, but I’d get myself off the hook when I offered the coppers one of these heavenly Quince Chewies Cookies. If you’re at all familiar with Celine’s blog, than you know she is the cookie queen, and these babies will not disappoint! (Hey, I took the darn photo back in February when it was dark outside at 4pm!). 500 Vegan Recipesis of course going to be rocking your tastebuds! Don’t forget to sneak a peak at the Flickr Pool for eye-candy galore!

I know that I’m oh-so-behind on blog reading and emails. I’m sorry, kids, but after trying to fight a stupid sinus infection without drugs (because I hate the drugs!), I finally caved and sought medical treatment (mostly because I couldn’t fight anymore). Thanks to my tenacity stubbornness I also won two free cases of bronchitis and laryngitis. Yippie!

Would you believe that up until Spring of 2007 (when I moved to this humidisville) I’d never had a sinus infection in my life? I seem to be getting the infection of the century once in the Autumn and once in the Spring. I do live in a very humid area – near the largest forest in France (and one of the largest in Europe), but still! 800mg of antibiotics every morning plus cortisone (yuck – Shellyfish no likey) plus a bunch of other meds should be making me feel better soon. I’d actually be in bed, I want to be in bed, but the cortisone has me wired like a crazy vegan warriorfish and though my eyes and brain are very tired, I can’t sit still.

I do need to say, however, that I am so thankful for our medical system here in France. My generalist was out Wednesday so I called the “traveling doctors” and though it took a few hours, I had a doctor in my home at 11 p.m. He even gave me cortisone right then to help ease my ickyness until morning when I could get to the pharmacy. Oh, and it cost 23E, 22 of which will be reimbursed by Social Security. Next morning at the pharmacy everything was covered, and I didn’t need to pay a centime.

While it’s true that people in larger cities or who chose to go to private clinics may have a slight edge, health care is not considered a “product” or a “privilege” here – it is the basic right of every human being. My little family has had some financial close-calls this year, but never once have we had to “budget” a doctor visit or wait before refilling a prescription – an absurd reality I know so many families face.

Then again, hummus and pancakes could be good together…I mean, a pita isn’t that different from a pancake, right?

Ok, anyway…before I get to the food, I need to send huge thanks to three amazing bloggers and friends : Celine of Have Cake, Will Travel, Ricki of Diet, Dessert and Dogs and Diann of Eat’n Veg’n Vegan Food & Recipes. These three amazing ladies are participating in The 60-Day Project of birthday gifts for my mum, and their goodies have arrived safely chez elle (to her house). I spoke with Mammafish Sunday morning and she was giddy with birthday delight : Celine’s gift arrived on her actual birthday (what timing!), and Ricki‘s and Diann’s packages arrived the following day and she got to open them at her birthday dinner! She just loved everything and was marveling at your thoughtfulness and talent! You are all very appreciated! Merci!!!

I was feeling the need for some comfort food, and pancake brunch on Sunday is as good an excuse as any. I’ve made Chocolate Chip Pancakes before, but they often ended up burnt, or a little too done. These delicious pannycakes were perfect: fluffy and ever-so-chocolaty, and you’ll find the recipe in the upcoming 500 Vegan Recipes. You could smother them with jam or even peanut butter, but we went with maple syrup, of course…

Another test recipe which is more than worth mentioning is the Traditional Hummus :

I tend to fancy myself as a bit of a hummus snob, and seem to always have some freshly made in the fridge, but I have a confession to make kids : I have never, ever, had such creamy and silky smooth hummus. Ever. And it’s easy-peasy. So there. I don’t know what I did to get to be a tester for 500 Vegan Recipes, but I’m one lucky Shellyfish! I recognize the above photo has the personality of boiled potatoes, so how about this one:

And to end this post on a happy note I’d like to share this gem, in honor of National Poetry Month (in the U.S.). This is one of my favourite poems. Washington Post writer Richard Thompson compiled some classic “Bushisms” and penned this oeuvre back in 2002 (I think). I am incapable of reading this poem without laughing out loud.

Make The Pie Higher

I think we all agree, the past is over.
This is still a dangerous world.
It’s a world of madmen and uncertainty
and potential mental losses.
Rarely is the question asked
Is our children learning?
Will the highways of the internet become more few?
How many hands have I shaked? They misunderestimate me.
I am a pitbull on the pantleg of opportunity.
I know that the human being and the fish can coexist.
Families is where our nation finds hope, where our
wings take dream. Put food on your family!
Knock down the tollbooth!
Vulcanize society!
Make the pie higher! Make the pie higher!
I don’t know about you, but I’m thankful that the human and the fish can coexist! Now got knock down the tollbooth and have a happy Sunday.

MAMMA FISH – AKA MY MUM – DO NOT READ THIS POST! AVERT YOUR EYES!!

I am just blown away by your amazing response to the 60-Day Project! Bianca said it well – we are a bit of a (blogging) family, and I am sincerely moved by your outpouring of interest and enthusiasm! I never dreamed this little idea would grow into such an adventure (Ricki – how did you know!). I don’t want to get overly sentimental here, but I am so energized by all this rockin’ Female Solidarity! Women from all over the globe (literally) getting together and getting it done! Right on, my Sisters! Where will we go from here? We could become the Undercover Global Birthday Squad – bringing birthday cheer to women everywhere! (I’m having a Roise the Riveter moment here…Sorry).

This is going to be one of the best birthdays ever for my mother and I am so excited about getting things underway! I had no idea how many of you would be interested in participating, and I must admit I’m a little overwhelmed by your response! I’m not sure how I’m going to manage to make and send off little gifts to everyone – there are so many of you! I’ll be getting an email off to all the participants this weekend with the important details so we can get started – I don’t want to talk too much more about this here lest the secret be spoiled! Weeeee!

And now, a little food, because we can’t make birthday history with our tummies empty now can we?

Hummm… here we have Caramelized Onion and Potato Tart on Focaccia. I wish I had a better picture, but both times I made this delectable dish it disappeared so fast I had a tough time snapping a picture! This is indeed a pre-Lent dinner, my baking fast is holding true, JFTR (just for the record).

I feel a little guilty tempting you with these succulent test recipes from the upcoming 500 Vegan Recipes, the stellar cookbook collaboration between Celine and Joni. The frustration you must feel not being able to make such yummies must be terrible! However, if you’re a sucker for punishment, do check out the 500 Vegan Recipes Flickr Group for more tempting deliciousness. You can marvel at the amazing food photography of the muy talented Celine! And hey! 500 Vegan Recipes is now available for pre-order, which may help you feel pro-active in appeasing your outrageous cravings!